Saturday, July 28, 2012

Scent of a Flower, Blood of a Wolf : Wolf's Rain REVIEW

Useful notes: The post in named after the title of the seventeenth episode of Wolf's rain.

I recommend you play this song for a more sensational reading. [click]

The ambiguous ending of Wolf’s Rain proved to hinder the viewers’
from reaching the satisfaction requisite at the end of each cherished animé. From Themanime.org to Nihonreview.com , reviewers
could not refrain from observing that the show offers a great disappointment especially
on the level of the resolution . A show during which one can have no command on
both brain and tears fails to meet the expectations of the viewers who longed
for a less confusing end. What I also deduced is that the four RECAP episodes, which were by the way unaired in the US, have driven the viewers a bit contemptible. In fact, they entailed a rough
reproach because the only new thing it introduced to the audience was an
amazing song entitled “Tell Me What The Rain Knows” composed by the legendary Yoko Kanno and sung by the wonderful Maaya Sakamoto. The criticism mainly rebuked
these four episodes which seem to have a sole aim: It is to stretch out the
show to reach thirty episodes. For this reason, the viewer ends up growing
weary. The idea of recapitulation, being superfluous and burdensome, is thus not
much of a genius idea.

Encountering such opinions, I had to
pave a way to my own point of view. Ever
since I watched the animé in 2006, I felt bound to loosen the ties around my
personal view concerning the show. The idea grew with me; but it has not been
developed until recently for I was lacking both style and language to express
it. My own explanation of the ending has fed on my beliefs and personal
perspective of the world. Far from being disappointed, my tears were shed for
the might of the message conveyed throughout the story.

Paradise is ubiquitous. It resides
inside of its believer. “Where I fly is hell [paradise], myself am
hell [paradise] “to reformulate John Milton’s words from Paradise Lost..
Or should I say Paradise Resurrected? It
is true that the last episode is soaked in bleak pessimism: Lord Darcia’s
misleading words constrain us to think that it is fruitless to nourish oneself
with a sense of belonging in and an obligation towards the clan. According to
him, one has but oneself to look after. The rest are but obstacles. It is
needless to heed attention to what holds one back. Nonetheless, Lord Darcia’s
speech did not influence me much because I knew the true source of those words.
His callous-hearted nature, his unjustified cruelty and obviously well-deserved
curse put him in the shadows when it comes to giving advice. Reversing the spell foretells the necessity
of belonging in order to preserve a sense of pride, and hence a strongly-entrenched
identity. Lord Darcia has lost himself in the process of transformation: Being
a noble classifies him in a precise category; but attaining the form of a wolf
rejects him to an undisclosed position. A cursed half-lord half-wolf – who was
doomed to lose the love of his life Amona — was driven to avenge her death by
massacring what, is already threatened with extinction. The wolves are a symbol of sacredness as they
are the only ones capable of opening Rakuen. They gain an important level of holiness
not for this matter only, but because being endangered goes back to the fact
that they form a clan.

The RECAP episodes are, to my fancy, a means to shed
light on the thread linking the four wolves. Four episodes for four wolves..
Not a very bad idea, by the end. They serve as a reminder of what connects
these creatures to each other. They depict their story from the very beginning
to the end, almost like a bildugsroman putting emphasis on their social and
psychological development. Eventually, they grew to be a kin, united for the
same cause, guided towards one destination with one key to paradise and one
destiny. Assembled, they form a well-knit community which is almost the rarest
thing to be found. This state of perfectibility cannot, of course, be stained. That
is why Kiba, the last survivor, does not kill Darcia as the latter unknowingly
poisons himself with Chesa’s blood. Being loathed by the purest of creatures,
he gets to be completely sacked out of paradise.

Undoubtedly, evil cannot be entirely exterminated
from the world. It can hide between the white flowers like a harmless “worm”
with “no teeth for the present”; but “in time” it will “breed”
“venom”. This metaphor, originally used by Shakespeare’s Macbeth brings
out an undeniable truth in life: The chain of malice never ends. A sorrowing fact
to admit; but it is only because the world needs to be balanced with both the
good and evil forces existing in it.

The following is a construction of musings
inspired by Lord Darcia’s statement.

“There is neither perfect happiness, or joy, or life. This is because it
[life] also does not contain perfect sadness, misery or death. “

This impossible existence of wholesomeness
drives one insane.

It
compels us to strive In order to reach the perfect state.

Then, inevitably, we
drift away when we meet with reality.

Not so pleasant. Do we keep deluding
ourselves?

Is it our nature to wretch and prefer to be
confined in a dream,

A boundless dream?

Nothing is enough for us. We dream of the
impossible.

We
admit its impossibility and yet we live to reach it.

We
breathe in our despair and exhale all hopes for change.

It is
utterly ludicrous to build a future upon mere fantasies and to construct plans
based on unrealistic visions.

How
discreditable it is to be so remote from the world.

Oh world of reveries, ensnare us not in your spider web.

We
have a present to live fully, to ponder thoroughly upon our futile existence
for it should be fructified and prettified.

Goodbye
Hyacinth garden.

I reckon you and I cannot be
unified.

Long-sought
Rakuen, keep calling me.

I have not abandoned the quest.

The luring
moon will be always there to remind me of you.

It will draw my path and lead me
to infinity

where all ends and all lives.

“They say there’s no such place… as Paradise.
Even if you search to the ends of the Earth, there’s nothing there. No matter
how far you walk, it’s always the same road. It just goes on and on. But, in
spite of that… Why am I so driven to find it? A voice calls to me… It says,
“Search for Paradise.”

“Why do humans always look to the sky? Why do you try
so hard to fly when you don’t have any wings?”

__Kiba

I particularly
liked a comment on YouTube which I find relative to my topic and worth sharing.

“ As humans we are always trying to find our purpose in
life and hoping that what we do here on earth is﻿ not in vain. We continue searching for
"ourselves" and living our lives in hopes that one day we might find
a paradise. We all hope to be able live in a world where there is no worries
and there is no pain and we can finally be free...but sometimes you begin to
think if "paradise" is just a fairy tale. Like Quent said,"The
thing about fairy tales is . . . there's always some truth in 'em." ”

~ ♥ ~ i n t r o ~ ♥ ~

みなさんこんにちは =3
First you can read about me here http://about.me/Sarra_Jouini
Briefly, I'm interested in Literature and especially poetry.
I will be posting some of my poems and writings. I hope you enjoy them !
Your comments are very welcome 8')
yoroshiku Onegaishimasu minasan =3